spoiled rotten
by vapanalley
Summary: Maryse took a sip of her coffee and thought about how warlocks did not age as humans did. Humans with angel blood flowing through their veins didn't die any slower.


A/N: They're a little a lot out of character. :\

Disclaimer: The Mortal Instruments Trilogy belongs to Cassandra Clare.

Edited: 5/22/11

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-Spoiled Rotten-

Maryse Lightwood smoothed down the thin leather incasing her torso and raised a gloved hand to knock on the door of a penthouse many floors up. The building she was standing in jutted up into the New York horizon like the fingers of a death man clutching at the sky. She supposed that if she were mortal, she would probably appreciate the architecture. But she had grown up in Alicante where the buildings were delicate spires and every single building block was ground from the bones of her brethren.

"I'll be right there!" A muffled voice shouted out from the other side of the door. Something broke beyond the door and a cat screeched. There were a few more thumps and bumps before the door was yanked open by the High Warlock of Brooklyn himself.

He looked dazed and smiled up at Maryse from behind strands of shiny, black hair falling into his eyes.

"Hi Ale-Mrs. Lightwood, it's a pleasure to see you. Would you like to come in?" Magnus' expression had managed to morph from one of happy anticipation to that of cool professionalism at the drop of a hat. Maryse could appreciate that.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment."

Magnus quickly shut the door in her face and she could here him muttering beyond the door. A few loud pops and a small 'bang' later, Magnus opened door once again and took a step back to make room for Maryse to enter.

Maryse smiled thinly and nodded politely as she stepped into Magnus' home. The living room fairly reeked of magic. Maryse was dressed in full Shadowhunting gear for a dragon hunt in the sewers of New York. She and Isabelle were teaming up for a mother daughter night out, but Maryse had left an hour early to make a small detour. _Glamour_ covered her from head to toe but she knew that Magnus could see through it just fine.

"I was expecting Alec." Magnus said as if to explain the extinguished and half-melted candles placed all around his living room.

"I could tell."

Magnus followed behind her cautiously as she picked her way across the floor. Her steps were light and every now and then she stepped over a shirt or a pair of pants. She wondered what Magnus had _really_ been magicking out of his living room if he hadn't bothered to clean the place up before she stepped into his home. A cat darted in and out of rooms and streaked under foot before darting to the kitchen.

"Would you like some tea?" Magnus asked when Maryse had settled herself at his table for two and crossed her legs primly.

"Coffee is fine." She said.

She waited patiently as he presented her a cup that appeared abruptly in his hand. She watched him over the rim of her paper coffee cup. Maryse didn't feel like asking him where the coffee had came from. She took another sip and blinked this time, missing the quick hand wave that made a second cup of coffee appear.

"What brings you here?" Magnus asked with a strained smile.

"Alec."

Magnus was silent as he looked at her with his cat eyes. Maryse had killed enough of the monsters that caused the bump in the night not to be frightened. She met his eyes and they stared at each other for a long moments. It was a battle of wills. They looked and looked.

Magnus looked down first. He placed his cup of coffee on the table and dipped his head. His eyes were obscured by his hair and he picked at his red shirt with long fingers.

"What about Alec?" He asked softly.

Maryse smiled again thinly and laced her fingers around her cup of coffee.

"If you ever harm him, I will cut off each of your precious fingers and that silver tongue of yours. I will burn each strand of hair off of your head with wax and a seraph blade alone. I will carve your heart out with a rusty spoon etched with so many runes and spells that you will wish you had died the day your mother and father made you. I will pour holy water into your wounds and tie you upside down from the chandelier of yours hanging above our heads with the entrails of your cat. These are promises that I make you marked in blood."

Maryse leaned forward and Magnus could see the faintest dents appearing in Maryse's paper cup. He lifted his head to look her in the eye once again.

"Not Chairman Meow!" Magnus gasped with mock indignation. He leaned forward as well and his amber eyes sharpened.

"There is no need for such threats, Maryse. I would just as gladly inflict upon myself all the pain you have so gallantly offered me, but you must understand, at some point he will get hurt and it will before his own good."

Maryse took a sip of her coffee and thought about the day Alec had come home a bloody mess with Magnus trailing behind looking for all the world like someone had _already_ ripped out his heart.

"Then we are on the same page of a curse book." Maryse said simply as she stood up. She made sure to throw the coffee cup into the trash can on her way out. At the door, she looked back with guarded eyes. "Take good care of him. In fact, spoil him rotten because that is what he deserves."

Magnus smiled winningly. "Oh, I will."

Maryse walked down the steps from Magnus' upperfloor penthouse. Before she was a Shadowhunter, she was a mother, and she'd make damn sure that her little boy was going to be a good hands for the time being. She checked the _glamour_ around her before heading towards the subway.

She and her daughter had a dragon to hunt.


End file.
